As many of you know, I’ve been feeding the mother-son streetie dog duo of Svelty and Bribo since the beginning of the year. Meeting and feeding them every night fast became one of the things that gave me an indescribable sense of satisfaction and happiness. I experimented with the foods I gave them, before eventually settling on a mix of toasted bread, egg yellows, and different types of wet foods from Kennel Kitchen. I’d rotate multivitamin tablets and oil supplements in their foods every other day, hoping to somehow provide them with enough nutrients in that one meal to compensate for their foraging diet during the rest of the day.

The two got used to me too, and would be waiting near the same spot next to a neighbouring undeveloped plot of land—overrun with bushes, weeds, creepers, and trees—every evening between 7.30–8.30 p.m.

The days they weren’t there, I’d whistle to them in the same tone, which over time they recognised to be me. They’d then come bounding out of the dark bushes, tails wagging, ears pulled back. They would sniff their respective bowls, then sniff the other to check if I had perhaps given the other one something tastier or better?

When Bribo was much younger and weaker, he’d polish off his bowl and eat from his mama’s, while she’d step back and let him. He was really weak and bony when I found him, so his mama was happy to let him have her share too.

But over time he grew bigger and healthier, and his mama became pregnant again and gave birth to a bunch of puppies. So, she lost weight as she was feeding her puppies. Naturally, she became hungrier too.

So, the dynamic between the two reversed. Svelty would polish off her plate and then move to Bribo’s, and he’d step back.

Not once have I ever seen either of them growl at each other.

I saw Bribo last Friday morning. He and Svelty were playing with a few kids right outside our community as I was walking Gabru.

That evening, though, only Svelty was there for dinner. I was mildly worried, because Bribo rarely missed his dinners.

He wasn’t there the next night too. And that’s when I started worrying. The next day I started asking the dogwalkers in the area if they’d seen him.